Monday, March 29, 2010

Charlie and Life Update

So, when I made the apt with the ENT for Charlie I was put on a canceled list, which means that they would call me if someone canceled and I could come in earlier. So, last Thurs. they called and said they had an opening at 3:10 Friday afternoon. We got things arranged so we could make it in.

The ENT took pictures of Charlies' eardrums so we could see them on a little tv screen. It was pretty cool. Looking at both ears we found that the right ear is about 90% filled with fluid and the left is 100% filled with fluid. Then he had an audiologist check out his ears again. This time his right ear tested better and was within normal hearing ranges. His left again was off the charts. When looking at tubes, you need to have 2 ears full of fluid for 3 months or 1 ear for 6 months. We are now getting all the medical records for the last year so we can see how long the problem has been going on in order to move forward. The ENT will call me when he has the information and will let us know where things stand and what we need to do.

In other news. Jacob is starting to really get his own little personality. He's becoming more vocal and that's fun. He'll growl with the other kids. He still only has 2 teeth, but I'm anticipating more any time now. Brigit is still working on the potty. We definitely have hit and miss times. Last week wasn't so good, but I will be more on top of it this week and that should help. I think I got too involved painting and things that it very much just got pushed to the side. Ben is loving school and it's fun to watch him read and getting better as he goes along. His teacher has him bringing home level C books now. (I'm not exactly sure where that is, but I know it's beyond the B he was.)

Life is going well for Mike and I. Mike has been playing basketball 2X per week and is enjoying that. He's been working on loosing some weight and since Jan. he's now lost about 13lbs. I'm proud of him for doing so even with watching me. (I have been VERY bad in the amounts and kinds of food I have been eating lately.) Work is good both at the school and here at home. We have now gotten the great-room downstairs all painted and I've got the boys room touched up mostly this morning. I'll need to do some more tonight and then I will move on to the bathroom. It's amazing what a coat of paint can do. I have been feeling well and opening windows while I paint. We have our ultra sound next week on the 6th. We are still thinking that we won't find out gender now and save it for a surprise at the other end.

Things are good and we are enjoying the nice weather and the spring season. My bulbs are coming up and my daffodils have started to have buds, so I think it really is spring. I'm looking forward to getting more of the inside things done and spending the mornings outside and getting a few things done out there. We'll keep you posted on the goings on.

Monday, March 15, 2010

What? What? WHAT?...

Some of you may have heard, others probably not, but I have been concerned about Charlies' hearing for a bit now. I can't really remember how long it's been a concern, I just know it has been for awhile. So, I got an apt with an audiologist through the school district to get it checked out. We had the apt this morning and Charlie handled it pretty well.

He got his ears looked at and then they checked the vibrations on his ear drum. The color looked off, and when they tested vibrations, there weren't any. He then got to go in the sound booth and put on headphones to really see where he's at. After they were done, I got to find out how he is.

I guess Mother's intuition was right. He really does have a problem. I guess normal range is 0-20 and he is at a 35-40 range. As I understand it, 40 is about normal talking, so he is barely understanding normal talking. I feel like I yell at him a lot and now I know that I really do. The nice thing is that he probably doesn't feel like I am at all. I have to go up about 20 decibels to get in his comfortable hearing range. So, from here, we get to go to an ENT and go from there. We've got that apt made, but it's not until mid-May. I thought I would just write it down now so I don't forget. My memory really isn't good right now, so hopefully this will help.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. I'll let you know in a couple of months.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The End of Day Three

Thursday turned out to be an interesting day. I'm not exactly sure how I got started or how I decided, but it was time to start potty training Brigit. She ended up using the potty most of the day with only one accident. I think we got started around 10:00AM and got ready for bed around 6:00PM, so, with only one accident, I felt great and she wasn't feeling the greatest. So, later that day, I decided I better get to the store and get some underwear and also some pull-ups to help us since we had gotten started.

So, Friday comes and Brigit seems sicker and I'm not sure how the day is going to go. It was also my birthday and so I was hoping for the BEST birthday gift ever would be for her to be done. That was not really how the day turned out. After she woke up, I showed her the new underwear and by the time breakfast was over, she had gone through 3 pairs of underwear, but only one was an accident caused change. (I think she just wanted to try on all the new pairs.) She ended up having a couple more accidents, so not too bad on the second day feeling aweful. She barely let me put her down all day. Also, I think she is intimidated by big toilets and while we were out to eat she did go and try, but she ended up having an accident a short time later.

Now, for today (Saturday) she has done wonderful again. I think she is feeling a little better as well, but she's only had one accident today. Not to get too graphic, but she just has a hard time with the pooping. So, the next big thing to work on. We'll see how she does, but so far, I think I've got a good gift.

On a little side note, Jacob actually let go of me tonight while he was moving around. He really let go of me and stood for a few seconds on his own accord.

Anyway, that is the latest in what's going on at our house. We are having fun and enjoying the spring type weather that has come. (Now it's snowing, so not quite full spring yet.) All is going well.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

NEW VAN!!

YEAH!! We are so excited to have our new van. It arrived yesterday and I had fun putting car seats in. We will be playing around with that for the next little while. We had to take a trip last night all of us together just to break it in...we ended up just going to the store. It was fun to drive around and get used to the new things. Here are some pictures before we got the car seats put in.

I also am adding a couple of more pictures of the bathroom for those that wanted to see more. Hopefully, this will help you see more. There are a couple little things that we want to do (put knobs on the cabinets and frame the mirror), but for now, it's basically done.

















Cabinets across from toilet



Tile floor
Ain't no need to watch where I'm going, just need to know where I've been.